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| Science & Technology |
| EPA Publishes Carbon Capture Regs |
| 2014-01-03 |
| The Obama administration on Thursday detailed final regulations easing the path toward technology needed to A final Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule, to be published in Friday's Federal Register, is meant to remove potential obstacles in the implementation of carbon capture and sequestration (CSS) technology. Without the technology, coal plants would be unable to meet forthcoming emission standards proposed as part of President Obama's effort to combat climate change. So first they write rules to block out coal plants, then graciously permit some mumbo jumbo to cover their tracks. Republicans and business groups have maligned the standards as a "war on coal," saying the carbon capture technology is costly and unproven. Not to mention unnecessary. Ask those guys froze in way down south! The administration, meanwhile, has defended the technology, which involves capturing carbon emissions before it spews out of plants and injecting it underground for long-term storage. Get it underground before the plants can separate the carbon from the oxygen! The process is known as geologic sequestration (GS). The rule creates a "consistent national framework" to facilitate the technology, including language that exempts "EPA expects that this amendment will substantially reduce the uncertainty associated with identifying these CO2 streams under RCRA subtitle C, and will also facilitate the deployment of (geologic sequestration) by providing additional regulatory certainty," the 58-page rule states. Additional regulatory certainty. Has a nice ring to it, eh? Members of the public and interested parties have 75 days to comment on the guidance. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #2 Just plant a nice grove of trees around the power plant. They'll suck up the CO2 as they grow, grow faster because of it, and shade the solar panels during the summer when they aren't needed to heat the building. Win, win, win! Whether geologic sequestration causes earthquakes has yet to be proven, same as fracking, right? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2014-01-03 18:51 |
| #1 I worked on a pilot plant to capture CO2. It takes a fourth power plant to run the process for the other three (existing ) plants. Then there ain't enough holes in the ground to dispose of the stuff. The cost of the fourth plant will be in your electric bill. The cost to dispose of it will be in your electric bill. The cost to regulate it will be in your electric bill. ..but its not a tax... |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2014-01-03 18:29 |